


A sneaking suspicion

by GalaxyParchment



Category: The Glass Scientists (Webcomic)
Genre: Identity Reveal, dont really know how to tag this lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:18:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyParchment/pseuds/GalaxyParchment
Summary: Lanyon decides he's had enough and wants to see what Jekyll does when he locks himself in his office. What he finds only raises more questions.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 167





	1. Chapter 1

Lanyon knew he needed to find out what was going on with Henry one way or another, and decided it was time to take matters into his own hands, now that he had once again been left in the office unattended. After all, he’s managed to hide in his office undetected before right? The nook behind one of Henry’s ornate cabinets was perfect, so he nestled himself in with barely enough room to move but just enough to keep an eye on his friend without being seen. A twinge of guilt spread in his mind but his decision was made, this was for the best. Lanyon drove it out of his mind at the realisation that Henry could be back from treating Frankenstein at any moment now.

The looming silence was deafening with tension and fear of what he may find, but also of what would happen if he where to be caught snooping like some dishonourable plague in Henry’s own sanctum. The creak of the door broke a sweat that had drawn itself on his face as their shutting was met with the sound of Henry’s voice unaccompanied.

“Honestly, could you cut it out for a day? This tantrum of yours is getting out of hand, its not going to do anything good for you.”

The lack of response that greeted it didn’t seem to draw any reaction from Henry but rather he continued as if nothing were awry.

“I’m not letting you out for god’s sake! You can’t just do what you like and expect me to play along. Just stop existing for a bit and you won’t even notice the time pass by.”

Robert’s confusion only grew further at the realisation that Henry had now turned to his mirror and seemed to be speaking to his own reflection, even more so that he seemed to be responding to himself as well. Too many sleepless nights must be getting to him. Not to mention that he couldn’t make an ounce of sense out of what he just said.

“Look, Hyde, if you keep this up I’m never letting you go to Blackfog, even if it rears its awful head once a month!”

A jolt shot through Robert’s mind at the mention of that wretched devil. From what he’d heard Hyde has never been one to speak quietly, or mildly for that matter. Hadn’t he run off to disappear into the night after the fire, yet Henry seemed to be chatting away like it were any other day, clearly annoyed with the man. Henry’s demeanour suddenly shifted to anger so abruptly that it caught Robert off guard, he’d never seen Jekyll so enraged.

“Well MAYBE if you hadn’t set the STREET on fire and PROCLAIMED YOURSELF to be an arsonist you wouldn’t BE in this mess, did you ever think of THAT?” Henry yelled with a start.

A thrown wine glass punctuated the silence that followed.

“Do you take me for a **moron**? I spend DAY after **DAY** cleaning up your **messes** and you just think you can **manipulate** your way into spending a night lurking around with **criminals**!” He reprimanded.

Henry seemed to attempt to yell out something else before Robert saw him stiff himself upright and forgot what he was talking about. The man then reached up to his collar to adjust it and spoke with a foreign mannerism, his body more animated with every word he uttered.

“Oh do shut up, Doctor, I thought I was the one with a temper, maybe you **do** need a night out. It could be all of the boring afternoons you spend cooped up in here with dear old annoying Lanyon talking about nothing but how you’ll keep this elaborate plot to receive all of the praise you so **desperately** crave running . It’s not like your porcelain gentlemen act is tricking his father into throwing money at you anymore, it’s kind of **pathetic** actually.”

A stray thought crept into Lanyon’s mind at the remark How long has he thought he was annoying? Surely he’s not just keeping him around for his father’s money. The exuberant gestures suddenly stopped as Henry slumped over, drained by his own outburst. Despite the lack of a good view, the panic on his face was all too clear. He leans into the mirror menacingly.

“How the hell did you **do** that? Answer me!”

This time the silence he’s greeted with is apparent to Henry as well.

“Answer me, dammit! Don’t think I’ll even **consider** hearing you out until you tell me what that was. I don’t want to hear another **word** about Robert either, he’s a trusted friend and there will be no more talk of leaving him.”

A glance at the clock prompted Henry to collect himself and speak calmly.

“I need to go see Jasper now, but we **will** discuss this **later**.”

The click of polished shoes preceded the creak of the large wooden door and the desolate quiet left in its wake. Confusion swirled through Robert at such a strange case as he crept out of the office before escaping to linger on his discovery. Clearly this was something far more complex than he could have ever imagined.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lanyon enlists Rachel's help in figuring out what exactly he heard.

That night had clung to the back of Robert’s mind for days without a break. The only conclusion he could bring himself to think about was that Henry had gone somewhat mad and had decided to simply conjure up an illusory Hyde whenever he wanted to yell at someone. Frankly he didn’t fancy that thought one little bit, he wasn’t exactly keen on sending his best friend to Bethlam. Rachel needed to know about it at least, both for Henry’s benefit and that of her oh-so-beloved Mr Hyde. She was making dinner, so he entered freely.

“Rachel, we need to talk”, Lanyon said as he entered the kitchen to approach her.

“Let me guess, you’ve found more evidence against Hyde being the innocent sweetheart that he is”

“This is more of a concern to Jekyll than it is of Hyde”

“What, has he finally gone completely **bonkers**?”

“Actually, yes” Lanyon said as Rachel turned from her preparations for dinner to face him directly.

“Now I know he’s been a little off but that’s a little **mean** don’t you think?”

“Well what do you call yelling at your own reflection as if it were someone else entirely?”

“And how **exactly** did you find this out?”, the hesitation on Lanyon’s face was clear.

“I… might have decided to spy on him in his office… purely out of concern but admittedly it wasn’t the most ethical thing I’ve done this week”.

“So he’s yelling at himself in his office, what does that tell us other than he’s stressed?”

“Well for one thing he was acting as though he was yelling at Mr Hyde”

“Now why on earth would he do that?”

“How should I know, it may just be because he’s caused so much **trouble** recently!”

“Now listen here! Hyde is a perfect boy and he would never do anything to intentionally hurt Dr Jekyll!”

“Well Henry himself was yelling at this imaginary Hyde that he set the street on fire!”

“He wasn’t even there that night!”

“Well he seemed awfully sure of himself at the time so I’m inclined to say he has some **certainty** about what happened. That’s not even the strangest part”

“Well then what **is** the strangest part?”

“He just stopped suddenly halfway through he was talking and seemed… different… he just started **talking** to himself but this time it was as if someone else was talking but it was to Henry, started calling himself **pathetic** and **shallow** ”, the anger in Rachel’s eyes shifted to concern.

“He isn’t drinking himself stupid is he?”

“No, he just walked into his office and went straight to talking to himself”

“Then we should figure out what’s going on, if we find out what’s wrong with Henry he may be able to tell us where Hyde is himself”

“We can worry about Hyde later, I only wish to see to it that Henry is okay”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter so I'm posting it sooner.

It wasn’t a perfect plan but it would have to do. Rachel would call Jekyll to settle a dispute between Mr Griffin and Mr Archer, both of whom happily agreed without any questions so long as they both got a week of free chicken. While this happened, Lanyon would sneak in and poke around in search of anything that would reveal what was happening to Jekyll. While Jekyll was occupied, Rachel would come to join Lanyon in his search.

Thankfully both Mr Griffin and Mr Archer were feeling particularly feisty today and got into a very heated discussion about the whereabouts of Mr Archer’s favourite wrench and even got a few other lodgers caught up in the mix. Needless to say Henry was quick to jump in and work his Victorian diplomacy to sort out the matter. Lanyon and Rachel couldn’t have had an easier time getting into his office unnoticed.

“So what exactly are we looking for?”

“Not a clue, just look until you find something, anything”

“Sure, it’s easy to **say** …”

A few rushed minutes of searching through the contents of the office led them to a drawer of components, some of them being the ones that Jekyll had brought home on his odd trip to the continent. Lanyon was eager to figure out if this had any connections to what was going on, but was shocked to find that not only were the packages the components came in opened and used, but these packages looked newer, as if Jekyll had not only used the original batch but had needed even more.

Unfortunately, he was denied the opportunity to ponder this as the sounds of scattering sets of footsteps replacing the yelling downstairs prompted them to stop themselves and sprint out of the room as fast as they could. They only barely passed by a corner before Jekyll made his way to the upper level and pushed past the looming doors that protected his personal affairs from the outside world, the tension that held their breath dissipated at the slam of wood and metal stifling the annoyed murmuring coming from Jekyll as he entered.

Henry swears that those drawers had been closed when he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder to all of you that have found me on AO3 the full story is actually already posted on my tumblr galaxy-parchment.tumblr.com as well as a few other works. I'm a lot more responsive on my tumblr as well and updates for my current fic are going there while I slowly post my stuff over here.


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days of investigating were an absolute nightmare.

Between keeping Jekyll off of their tails, finding evidence and trying to find any sense in what any of it meant had Rachel and Lanyon more confused than when they had started. Lucy’s gang couldn’t find a single hair to indicate that Hyde even existed, the matter of Henry’s will was still up in the air and with Frankenstein hanging around the society he seemed to be spending a lot more time rekindling his love for alchemy, whether it be in finding her a cure or simply vying for her favour in him being a ‘true scientist’, whatever that meant.

Jekyll had become more cautious too. After their office heist he seemed to have caught on that someone was onto him, though thankfully he didn’t seem to have any suspicions aimed towards his closest friends.

His office was now locked even while he occupied it and he refused to leave anyone in there unattended. Unless they became master thieves sometime soon, they needed a different approach. Thankfully Henry wasn’t the only alchemist at the Society, so Virginia Ito found Dr Lanyon at her door that afternoon.

“Ms Ito, how have you been?” Miss Ito turned to him and casually leaned against the side of her workbench.

“I assume you need me for something, Dr Lanyon? You’re not one to make house-calls with lodgers for the fun of it” She said as she casually leaned against her workbench, both hands gripping the edge.

“I was simply wishing to get some clarification on something alchemy related, since Henry isn’t all that talkative about it”

“Ask away”

“Does he still do his own experiments?”

“Not that I know of, except for fixing up Doctor Frankenstein, but I doubt he’s making up new medicines, since his work is apparently **dull and academic**.” she said with a hint of mocking in her voice.

“I just think it’s odd since he used to be so absorbed in his work, what with the shutting himself in his room and testing out new theories for **days** on end.” He said cautiously. Usually he wouldn’t be so open about this sort of thing but he had to get the information he needed.

“Yeah, he did used to be a lot more involved with his experiments. I suppose when you’ve got a student there’d be less time for furthering your own work”

“Student?” This was certainly news to Lanyon.

“Hyde. The man’s wild for sure but he knows his way around a chemistry kit. Where else would a guy that spends his free time drinking and fucking learn advanced distilling methods?”

“And how exactly do you know this?”

“The bastard snuck in here late one night to make an aphrodisiac, ruined a perfectly good flask with his first attempt. I never even got any justice for that, Jekyll just said that he can play around with my kit if he likes but he ‘told him off’ for it.” She complained, the annoyance in her voice abundantly clear.

“My heart bleeds for you, Miss Ito” Lanyon responded sarcastically

“All due respect, sir, you asked”

“Fair enough, thank you for your time, good day to you” He concluded with a wave of his hand as he made his way back through the door.

“To you as well, sir” She responded as the door clicked shut behind him, turning back to the bench to return to her work.

This was becoming stranger by the minute. The more he learned about this debacle to less sense it made.

-

Rachel was stirring a pot in the kitchen in preparation for yet another dinner for the lodgers when Dr Helsby and Mr Griffin decided to keep her company as she cooked. No doubt the smell of the stew had attracted them both.

“Why Miss Rachel, I **insist** on lending a hand and passing out dinner tonight” Mr Griffin offered

“So you can take the best bowl for yourself, not a chance, this isn’t leaving the room until Dr Jay shows his face downstairs, I told him he was eating dinner tonight and by god am I gonna watch him eat this damned food”

“As if he’s gonna come down for dinner, Rachel, it’s nighttime, he’s probably done his little disappearing act like he always does” Dr Helsby butt in with annoyance

“Oh, don’t be silly, he’s just in his office at this time”

“Not since he hired Hyde, he isn’t. Don’t tell me you’ve **never** checked on him”

“Well Hyde hasn’t been around recently, besides, I’m not the sort of woman to go snooping in on a man when he says to leave him alone”

He simply gave her a knowing look, having known her approach to many men in the past. Rachel felt her face grow warm.

“Well- well point taken but- but I wouldn’t just go waltzing in there whenever I feel like it”

“Point is, there’s **no way** you haven’t noticed that whenever Hyde has left for one of his bar crawls, Jekyll isn’t anywhere to be found either. I reckon that they go out together so they can sleep together at Hyde’s place without drawing attention.” He snickered.

“That’s enough outta you, mister, you get dinner **last**!”

“What? No fair!”

“I think it’s **quite** fair, Helsby, you should stop embarrassing yourself and leave” Griffin mocked

“I’m just saying that if they **weren’t** shagging then they wouldn’t make such a damn good effort to never be seen in the same **room**! I can say for sure that I’ve never seen Jekyll standing next to Hyde, otherwise they’d be **all over** each other.” He remarked as he strolled out of the kitchen huffily.

The comment stayed with Rachel as she scooped out portions into everyone’s bowls. Jekyll wouldn’t mind if he was late to dinner tonight anyway. She was far too lost in thought to realise that the man in question had quickly crept back to his office after overhearing such slanderous gossip.

-

He couldn’t ignore it any longer. Someone was clearly onto him and he had an awful feeling that Rachel and Lanyon were the ones stirring up trouble. He thought it odd that they were the only ones not present during the argument yesterday, with his very private drawer left open, but after getting a stray comment from Ito about how Lanyon had stopped by to ask about him and the conversation he overheard with Rachel, he had no other conclusion to come to than that they were going behind his back to figure out why he’d been acting strangely.

If they found out, God knows what would happen. They probably wouldn’t look at him the same way again and he’d be sent to Bethlam without a second thought. He couldn’t bear to think about it.

What could he possible do? His closest friends had turned on him and he had been left with no options. He gathered up all evidence that he had even touched a flask in the past decade and stuffed it in his desk drawer and locked it. He couldn’t destroy his life’s work, but there wasn’t much else he could do right now. Hopefully it was enough for now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More short chapters = Faster update

Rachel and Lanyon gathered in the kitchen once again. The two of them had a lot to catch up on.

“Any developments, Rachel? I certainly have some interesting discoveries.”

“Same for me, although my information is more gossip than fact. Do tell, though” She urged.

“It seems Hyde has been taking lessons from Jekyll as of late. I was speaking with Miss Ito and she claims that he has advanced alchemy skills that exceed anything that can be achieved by pure experimentation.”

“Hyde? That boy can’t even be bothered to learn how to make cookies, let alone how to whip up potions like Jekyll’s” She remarked incredulously, clearly harbouring some bitterness at a past attempt to teach him such a skill.

“Well it’s true regardless, and she says Henry hasn’t been doing any alchemy until he had to start making medicine for Frankenstein, which is concerning, considering how much he used to pursue his theories. I do hope he hasn’t encountered anything unsavoury in his research…” He rambled. Rachel butted in before he could start jumping to conclusions.

“Y’know, Helsby made a bit of a strange point earlier today. You probably haven’t noticed seeing that you don’t ever see Hyde, but those two are never in the same room together. Not to mention that before Hyde disappeared, whenever he took off on one of his misadventures, Jekyll always seemed to be cooped up in his room or not be at home at all. It’s right strange, it is”

“That… does seem odd…” Lanyon said slowly.

“You don’t think they’re doing unsavoury business do you?” Rachel theorised.

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it. Henry’s been using some weird ingredients that he started getting around the time that he stops doing new research. Suddenly Hyde comes along and learns alchemy from Jekyll. Jekyll doesn’t seem to have gotten rusty from 2 years of not doing alchemy either, what with him not having any trouble treating Frankenstein, so I’m inclined to think that he hasn’t gone cold turkey. Then, when Hyde goes out, Jekyll isn’t home either and could very well not be coming back until the early hours of the morning. The only explanation I can think of is that Henry got worried about funding the society and decided to run a drug business on the side and is worried now that Hyde is on the run!” Rachel explained, forming her theory as she spoke.

“That would explain why Hyde isn’t paid in the Society’s finances…” Lanyon agreed.

The two pondered on this development and exchanged possible evidence to prove or deny their theory, which seemed to have become an unavoidable truth. Their hushed conversation was cut short as the unmistakable sound of muffled yelling could be heard upstairs in Jekyll’s office.

They mutually concluded that if they were to found out what was going on, subtlety was no longer and option, they had to catch Jekyll red-handed and demand a proper explanation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record I know hardcore drugs were in pretty much everything in the Victorian era but don't worry these are like magical extra illegal drugs or something.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for this chapter having a slightly gory bit but I tried to not make it too graphic.

Jekyll was having a bad week, a really bad one. Hyde wasn’t letting up and his army of nightmares was getting more ravenous by the day. To make matters worse it felt like he was on the brink of being found out.

“Doctor, you really should just **let go** , it’ll be better for everyone if you simply **take the night off** …” Hyde chided, reaching a hand out from the mirror and towards Jekyll.

“For the last time, I won’t be letting you out until the search dies down, let alone let you go to Blackfog”

“Oh, Doctor, you really mustn’t trouble your pretty little head about who did what or who burned down whose Society, what you **should** be worrying about is how long you can keep up this charade of yours, what with all of the prying eyes that have invaded our treasured privacy”

“While you may be right, that just means that it’s in **your** best interest to cease all of this nonsense as well.”

“Well maybe you could just let me live my life, this is **cruel** and you **know** it!”

“If I let you out, we **both** go to jail, I can’t exactly walk in and charm your way out of jail, you idiot!”

“I’ll be careful, though! I won’t get caught or anything, plus it’ll be **Blackfog** for god’s sake, if anyone gets caught there then they’ll be in trouble, yet **everyone** with any sense of fun in this damn building has been there and returned without any issue”

“We **won’t** be speaking of this **again**!”

“Oh, but I think we **will** , Doctor” Hyde leered as he snapped with his misty fingertips. Suddenly all of the nightmares that lurked in the edges of the room surged forward and grabbed, pulled and scratched away at Jekyll, revealing horrible guts and sinew leaking out of his body with no signs of ceasing. The pain was too excruciating to ignore and it was all that Jekyll could think about as the horrors he witnessed clawed their way into his fragmenting mind.

Hyde grinned with all of the glee that could fit in his small frame as he leapt through the mirror to seize his prize. This was sure to get him plenty of time to do what he liked. As Jekyll was pushed down into some quiet part of the body, Hyde raced to the locked drawer and retrieved his liquid freedom, the half-finished solution that would let him out in his true form.

“Hyde, please, don’t do this! Let me back in, I- I promise I’ll let you go out tomorrow night!”

“Oh, it’s too late for that, I’m afraid I can’t **trust** you anymore, a real shame. Maybe this little **break** will be good for us” Hyde sneered, forming an unmistakable look of shock and fear on Jekyll’s sorry face.

He ignored whatever other pathetic excuses his captor threw at him for mercy like the many compliments he hurled at his idiotic affluent patrons for whatever money they cared to spare. He added the precious salt that produced the wonderful poison that would free him from this awful captivity. With a mad eagerness he downed the entire flask the moment it changed to his favourite eerie green.

The transformation was painful yet Hyde stood even as he hunched over and choked on his own viscous glowing saliva. It was a strange sensation, to be present for the whole thing. It felt like a pleasant nightmare to feel his hair stretch and grow into his own familiar wild mane, his bones ground against each other as his limbs shortened, the clothes around him grew to be too big for his now spindly body. Despite the pure adrenaline and excruciating aching that reached every part of his body, the glass flask was held tight in his hand. A relieved laugh escape Hyde’s lips as he wiped away whatever green goo was left dripping from his face.

It seemed he was about to receive company as he heard two sets of footsteps clambering up the stairs with far too much purpose to be for a friendly visit, especially given how Jekyll’s week had been going.

“You know, I think I **will** take a rain-check on Blackfog, I have a **much** more fun activity planned for tonight”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first wrote this I didn't anticipate Hyde being able to take over without too much of a struggle but you know sometimes you're an evil gremlin that wants to seize control with a little dramatic flair.


	7. Chapter 7

Lanyon and Rachel burst into the office and finding not Dr Henry Jekyll at the finely crafted desk, but rather Mr Edward Hyde, reclining with not a care in the world, wearing baggy clothes and with his shiny shoes thrown across the papers that were sitting on the desk, now partially crumpled beneath his feet.

“I suppose you’ve been looking for me, then?”, he piped up merrily.

“As a matter of fact, yes” Lanyon responded curtly.

“You’ve been quite rude as well, sneaking around, thinking the good doctor didn’t notice”

“And what of it?” Hyde ignored the question.

“It’s been quite a good effort actually, though next time do try to put everything back where you found it in the first place. Frankly I’m getting quite bored of it and would much rather get back to how things **used** to be. Getting into trouble every night, spending those beautifully cold London nights doing whatever the hell I please, no Jekyll to keep me caged up like some beast, doomed to be a prisoner of my own mind for all eternity”

“…caged up?…” Hyde slowly turned his head to face Lanyon, his eyes full of pure mania and mischief.

“Would you like to know how Jekyll and I met? I mean **truly** met, face to face”

Before he could continue his expression turned sour and riddled with mild annoyance as he glanced at the mirror.

“Oh shut up, would you? It’s about time you paid for your betrayal, how could you **not** see this coming?”

“I beg your pardon?” Lanyon said, aghast.

“I’m not talking to **you** , moron”

“Hyde, where have you been I’ve been worried **sick** ”, Rachel exclaimed, relief finally pushing past her shock.

“Oh, we’re getting to that part, but this lovely little anecdote I’m about to share with you is **far** more interesting”

The air was thick with anticipation, so Hyde took the opportunity to speak.

“It was probably the best day of my life, it was. Months of hard work finally paying off. I haven’t the foggiest how I even thought it up, but for some reason this whole idea of splitting my soul was just too good to pass up.” As he spoke he took his feet off of the table and reached down to a key that rested on it. Rachel and Lanyon shared a hesitant glance at each other over Hyde’s words.

“The night that I had finally figured it out was something magical, my years of research into ancient forms of spiritual alchemy had paid off and produced that wonderful, gorgeous potion **stinking** of honey and sulfur.” He took the key and unlocked the top drawer on the desk, pulling out a flask of red liquid.

“I had truly freed myself from the shackles of being a tiny insignificant stray thought in the back of his mind and had realised myself into the immaculate visage you see before you”

“And how exactly does this relate to you meeting Jekyll?” Lanyon cautiously asked and Hyde poured something into the flask, causing the solution to turn a vibrant, unnatural green and a gas escaped from it in a wild excess, the overwhelming smell giving it away instantly as the potion that Hyde held so dear.

“Patience, my good man, that will become clear in but a moment,” he said as he gulped down the concoction, earning a stifled gasp from Rachel.

The coughing that rapidly emerged from Hyde’s crumpling form seemed to not bother him at all, neither did the eery green ooze flowing from every orifice in his face. In fact, in between his hacking, giggles of pure glee escaped his now growing form. His hair burned away and darkened like fire around a fresh log. The laughter cut itself off somewhere halfway as he collapsed. Rachel’s first instinct was the run forward and check him, only for her to pale at what she found lying in front of her.

It was the face of Dr Henry Jekyll.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the honestly anticlimactic ending but you know sometimes you gotta finish a mild stress fic off with something nice.

Neither of them could bring themselves to break the silence that had swept the room. The doctor did the honours and let his eyes drift open and suddenly widen as he shoved himself away from Rachel with a gasp and scrambled backward in a panic, staring them down with pure terror. He watched them carefully, wary that they could make a move at any moment.

“Henry-“ Lanyon began

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Jekyll said quickly, desperate to explain himself “My intentions were good, I- I didn’t know it would be like this.”

“So this isn’t some elaborate parlour trick?” Lanyon interrogated

“N- no” He answered guiltily, his expression softening into despair. “I know you probably can’t bear to look at me but… please, I can’t go to Bethlam, it would destroy the Society’s upstanding” He pleaded. All of Lanyon’s apprehension melted instantly.

“Henry… do you really think we would send you to Bethlam?” He asked earnestly, “you’re my best friend, I wouldn’t dream of betraying you in such a horrible way.” He said as he crept closer to Jekyll, recognising how frightened he was.

“I’m… sorry I didn’t tell you. You asked me to always be honest with you and I **lied** and you have **every** reason to never want to look me in the eye again.” He blathered. “I just didn’t know if you’d want anything to do with me and I didn’t tell you and suddenly it was this huge secret I had to keep from every-“

He was stopped mid-sentence by the sensation of a strong embrace from Lanyon, who had darted forward and wrapped his arms around him and held him even tighter than he’d ever been held before. He pulled back with a sad smile.

“Don’t be an idiot, Jekyll” he sniffed, “if you got sent to Bethlam I’d be left to run this place myself, and we both know that would be a disaster”. The room was silent, knowing that further apologies wouldn’t be accepted from either party.

“So… is Hyde… real?” Rachel interrupted, knowing she was ruining the moment but was very much invested in finding out what exactly was going on. Jekyll simply looked down away from them.

“Yes, actually. He is a manifestation of my evils. I had initially intended to be rid of my own vices but… it didn’t go as planned. Now I do my business in the day and Hyde has his fun and I can experience it second-hand.” He said, carefully gaging his friends’ reactions, “since the fire, I’ve been keeping him from going out until the search dies down and he’s been getting… antsy”

Rachel and Lanyon looked at each other and turned back to Jekyll. The room was silent for what felt like an eternity until Rachel suddenly let out a giggle.

“You know… it’s kind of a relief actually. We thought you’d started a drug ring” she said, “it’s somehow better to know that this was all just a crazy experiment gone wrong.”

“And just so you know, Jekyll, I personally think that your work is far more advanced than anything that Doctor Frankenstein could hope to pull off” Lanyon smirked, the sadness having vanished from his face, being replaced by a comforting smile. Jekyll simply stared at the two of them as blank relief crept onto his face.

“You’re not… shocked? appalled? scared?” He asked nervously.

“Well, yes absolutely, and we definitely need some **very** detailed explanations since I didn’t understand half of what you just said, but you’re our friend and I **know** you’re a good man and I would never do anything to hurt you” Lanyon insisted.

Jekyll allowed himself the pleasure of an earnest but hesitant smile. His problems were far from over and explaining everything may not go as smoothly as he hoped it would, but he was content that for once in his life, he didn’t have to lie through his teeth to the people he cared about. It felt nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not to chase notes or anything but I'd appreciate you to leave likes, reblogs and even any questions or suggestions you have for me regardless of if its about this fic or not on my tumblr (galaxy-parchment.tumblr.com) since I'm way more responsive there. I'll be posting the next fic here soon so keep an eye out!

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who isn't aware, I've actually been posting on Tumblr @galaxy-parchment and I already have heaps of stuff on there so go ahead and follow me. I'll be migrating all of my current works over what I expect will be the next few weeks but Tumblr is where I post first and it'll still be updating while I move everything here.


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